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Damian was so sick of this. He was sick of the rules and his father’s expectations. He was sick of having to be perfect, perfect as Robin, perfect to prove that he had changed from his bloody past, sick of having to prove he was good enough to be working with his father. He was sick of having to be perfect as Damian Wayne. A perfect citizen, a perfect Wayne, a perfect American. He could never show that he was weak or emotional. He either had to be all American or all Arabic. But no matter what, he always had to be perfect.
He was tired of it and after having gotten in a fight with his father, he just left. He changed out of his uniform, into a pair of joggers and a t-shirt with a jacket over top, and he just got in his car and left.
He didn’t tell anyone where he was going, other than saying goodbye to Alfred on his way out.
But he had a specific destination in mind.
Hamilton County, Delaware. The Kent Residence.
The home of his best friend.
His only real friend.
There were few people who he trusted. Sure, he trusted his father, he trusted Alfred, he trusted Grayson. But he needed to be away from it all. He needed to be free . And Jon was one of the few people he knew who truly knew how to live life freely. Jon knew how to enjoy his time and live like a teenager and Damian had always envied him for that, but now? Now he longed for it. He needed it.
The drive was silent. Honestly, he forgot most of it. He had no idea what had happened during it, but he had been leaving Gotham Bay, then suddenly he was in Hamilton county, green corn and bean fields rolling past him as he sped down the country roads.
He reached the Kent's house, and while he didn't exactly try to be quiet when he pulled up, he didn't go to the front door either. It was nearly midnight, after all.
No, instead he snuck around the side of the house and climbed up their oak tree. Then he easily hopped across, grabbing Jon's open windowsill and holding himself up until he could push the window open enough that he could tumble through. Anyone else would've fallen. He instead just rolled over the wooden frame, tucking in his arms and legs to fit through perfectly, and then land lightly, and softly on the balls of his toes. A perfect landing, of course.
Across the room, Jon was still peacefully sleeping. Damian smiled softly. Either he was truly asleep and oblivious to Damian, or he was pretending for the sake of Damian's pride. Either way it was amusing to him. He left the window open and snuck over, his steps light, his trainers not making a single noise. Then he gently placed a knee on the edge of Jon's bed, preparing to wake him.
Jon was asleep, sprawled out on his stomach, his head mostly off his pillow, and another pillow shoved under his arm and part of his chest. Despite it being fairly hot in the room, Jon was covered in a duvet and had a hoodie on, his messy, curly hair was partially in his face. Damian just leaned forwards and gently pushed his back his hair, leaning down and gently kissing his forehead.
"Jonathan."
"I'm 'wake," he mumbled sleepily, peeking open an eye. "Why're you here?"
"I wanted to see you."
Jon smiled, reaching up to tug on Damian's arm.
"Hold on, hold on, shoes."
Damian quickly kicked them off, as well as his jacket, then slid under the blankets, letting Jon pull him in close. He let Jon tuck him up against his chest and he snuggled in tight, Jon's chin on his head, slipping his legs between Jon's.
"So what happened?" Jon asked with a yawn, reaching up to rub his eyes.
"Why do you think something happened?"
"Because you showed up randomly at my house, way before you're usually done with patrols, you're not in uniform which means there's not a mission you need me for, and you immediately snuggled up to me after waking me up with a kiss to the forehead. Somethings wrong."
Damian just sighed and stayed quiet, listening to Jon's breathing. Jon didn't push, just stayed silent, waiting patiently. He knew when was the right time to talk, and when was the right time to be quiet, and Damian didn't know how to express how much that meant.
"Father and I . . . " He stopped and sighed, pressing his face tighter into Jon's hoodie, breathing in his scent. Warm, both from having been asleep, and warmth like the sun. The smell of his cheap shampoo and body wash. Just his general smell.
Jon pulled back enough to press a kiss to Damian's forehead for just a second, then moved back.
"We got into an argument over Arkham, and I just . . . Needed to leave."
Jon hummed softly, and Damian finally pulled back, looking up at him. Jon smiled softly, and Damian could just barely see it in the dark.
"You know what we should do?"
"Huh?"
"We should sneak out."
"Damian-"
"Go up to Metropolis. Just you and I, Damian and Jon."
"Dami."
"Come on, it's been forever since we've been able to hang out properly."
"What's with you?" Jon asked, suddenly pushing up, forcing Damian onto his back, so he was over Damian, looking down at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Who are you and what did you do to my Damian? Usually you're so . . . Straight laced and obedient?"
Damian blinked up at him, then he sighed softly and looked towards the open window.
"Maybe I'm just tired of having to be perfect all the time."
Jon didn't respond at first, and Damian just gave another soft sigh, and shrunk in on himself, waiting for the sixteen year old to respond.
"Okay." When Damian looked up, confused, Jon grinned. "Let's go."
He hoped up, moving towards his closet and quickly changed, pulling on a pair of jeans(with rips, of course) and a patterned blue button up which he tucked into to his pants, added a belt and a pair of Converse and then turned to Damian.
"How do I look?" He did a little twirl, and Damian shook his head, grinning.
"Like a dork. Don't forget your glasses."
"Oh right."
Jon grabbed his glasses, phone and wallet and then walked over to the window.
"Ready?"
"Really? You're just going to sneak out with me? You, goody-two-shoes Jonathan Samuel Kent is just gonna leave with me?"
Jon stopped, turned to face Damian, leaning against the window.
"Yeah. You need me. There's no place I'd rather be."
Damian tried really hard to fight down his smile, and for the most part he succeeded. He walked over to Jon, leaning forwards into him.
"You are an amazing friend, Jon."
Jon grinned, leaning forwards until their noses were touching.
"If you would just ask me out, I could be a an even better boyfriend."
Damian sighed, glancing away.
"Jon-"
"Not gonna stop bugging you about it until you asssskkk~~" Jon sang, kissing Damian's nose.
"We've talked about this."
"And I still think your reasons are bullshit and I still want to date."
There was a few seconds of tense silence.
"But come on, let's go."
He reached up, tucking Damian's head to his chest, and then just tumbled backwards, falling out of the window. Damian yelped a bit and grabbed at Jon's shirt, and then they were on the ground.
"Let me go shut my window."
Jon set him down and shot up for a moment before immediately landing beside him.
"Are we driving or flying?"
"Which would you prefer?"
" . . . Fly?"
Damian nodded and stepped back into his space. Jon easily picked him up and took off towards Metropolis. It was dark out, the stars twinkling brightly in the sky, but no moon was present.
They flew to an alley in Metropolis and then set down, Damian stepping away from Jon and pulling out his phone.
"Where are we going first?"
"I'm thinking."
Jon hummed. "I'll follow your lead, Rob."
Damian did a bit of research quickly, forming plans and a timeline in his head, somethings stayed open later then others in a city in Metropolis, but it was a weeknight so that didn't exactly help.
"Okay, I know where we're going."
"Okay?"
"Yup, you got your bus pass?"
Jon hummed and dug into his pocket to pull out his wallet.
Damian produced his - he had decided to get a Metropolis bus pass since he already spent so much time in the city - and they headed off to the nearest bus stop.
Twenty minutes later, they were at an arcade.
"Oh my god, you rascal," Jon giggled, grabbing Damian's hand.
Damian got tugged inside, and they immediately went to the ticket booth, where the poor employee informed them that they were only open until 1:30, and Damian just smiled charmingly and took their arcade passes.
The first thing Jon dragged him off to was the DDR mats, where they spent nearly twenty minutes, just trying to beat each other. Despite Jon's powers, Damian kept winning, because of his training and coordination.
They spent an hour at the arcade, staying until the employees were literally shoving them out the door.
"Okay, where are we going now?" Jon asked, looking at the strip of photo booth pictures they had done.
"Come on."
"I figured?"
Damian just led him back to the bus station, which they rode to an 24/7 supermarket, where Damian led Jon around on a seemingly confusing mission, buying supplies that only vaguely connected to each other.
Like, sidewalk chalk, and a backpack, and a picnic blanket, but also towels and snacks like pocky and chips.
Once they checked out, Damian packed everything away into the backpack, then just stood there, waiting for the bus.
"Okay, mystery man," Jon asked, stepping in front of him and pressing in close as he leaned against the wall. "Where are we going?"
"It's a secret, Kent, I can't tell you."
Jon snorted, leaning even closer, until their noses were touching.
"Hey now, I might get grounded for this, I think I should get veto powers."
"Grounded? Unlikely. Just say I kidnapped you against your will."
"Yet, it wasn't against my will, now was it?"
"Hmn, do you really want to know that badly?"
Jon looked contemplative for a moment. "Hmmn, no, I trust you."
He kissed Damian on the cheek, then stepped back as the bus pulled up. Damian just chuckled, grabbed his hand and led him inside.
Their next stop was an Japanese all night restaurant, where Damian got them a bunch of sushi and some cold green tea. Then they started walking. Jon was holding the teas, Damian the sushi and backpack, and they just started walking, with no particular destination in mind.
Then Jon shifted the teas to just one hand and reached down and grabbed Damian's hand, intertwining their fingers.
"So you decided college finally, right?"
"I have."
"Gotham University?"
Damian hummed confirmation, glancing up at Jon.
"I decided I'd stay close to home, for now."
"Oh, just home?"
"Well, there is this cute fellow I've been talking to for a while now?"
"Oh yeah? How long?"
"Oh, five or six years now."
Jon chuckled, glancing down over. They met eyes and grinned at each other.
"What about you, have you thought anymore about what you'll be working towards?"
"Naw . . . I dunno, I guess, it doesn't seem that important, since I'll only be a junior? I have good grades, I'm good at anything I put myself to, ya know? I don't want to spend my summer stressing about where I'll be in two years."
"That's good."
"Yeah. Besides, I'm hoping to spend some more time with this handsome guy I know."
"Oh yeah."
"Yup."
They bumped arms together, and caused more giggling.
"Okay but seriously, where are we?!"
"You just now decided to ask that?" Damian asked, laughing harder, they both leaned into each other as they stopped walking and started laughing.
"Damian!"
"Just come on! I know right where we are!"
They walked a few more blocks, then Damian stopped in front of a huge cathedral.
"You have. . . You want us to eat sushi in the church?"
"Nope. On top of the church."
Damian pointed up. Jon looked between him and the top of the cathedral. Then he shrugged, turning his back to Damian.
"Hop on."
Damian grinned and passed him the sushi for a moment as he hopped on Jon's back, then took the sushi and the tea from him. Jon hooked his arms around Damian's legs, and took to the sky, flying around the cathedral for a bit before landing in the bell tower.
"So, was there a particular reason you picked the cathedral?" Jon asked, taking back the food and drinks while Damian slid off, and pulled out their picnic blanket from the backpack.
"No? Should there have been?" Damian asked with a mischievous grin.
"Oh sure, definitely nothing symbolic about two gay guys hanging out on a cathedral eating sushi."
Damian just chuckled, sitting down on the blanket and taking the sushi, beginning to pull out the food, breaking apart the chopsticks, and then starting to eat. Jon sat across from him and they just ate quietly for a while.
"Do you think my parents know I left?"
Damian looked down at his watch. It was 2:58am.
"Unless your dad heard us, I doubt it."
Jon just hummed, silence hung for a bit.
"Do you think your dad knows you left?"
"Unless he's left the cave by now, I doubt it."
". . . So why were you guys really fighting?"
Damian opened his mouth to lie, but looked up and met Jon's eyes, and immediately gave up.
"We've been . . . Arguing about my path in life, recently."
"Why?" Jon asked, leaning back on his elbows.
"He thinks . . ." Damian stopped and sighed, chewing on the end of his chopstick a bit. "He thinks I should be doing something more business oriented."
Jon frowned, sitting up again. "Like for the company?"
"I do not know."
"Does he not . . . Like, support the art teacher path?"
"He does, but I can tell he would prefer it if I went into business and not teaching. But I've already expressed that I have no interest in the company, and am quite happy to let Timothy take that."
"So why doesn't he back off?"
Damian shrugged and put another piece of sushi in his mouth. He was almost full, but it was worth it.
"And I may have expressed, in one of our arguments, the fact that I intend to step down from Robin, some time in the near future, and make my own path."
"Oh shit. How'd that go?"
". . . It could have been better timed, but I do not think it was ill received?"
"Oh well that's good."
Damian smiled slightly, ate one last piece of sushi, then set his chopsticks down and sipped his tea while he looked for something on his phone.
"So, what's next on your magic agenda?"
Damian shrugged, having found his searched for item, and set his phone down.
"Oh? You don't have everything planned?"
"No, not everything."
Jon chuckled, finishing the sushi and pushing the container aside. He sipped his tea for a bit, then he grinned.
"Hey you have that sidewalk chalk, right?"
Damian hummed and fished it out. He passed the pack over to Jon, who easily opened it, and pulled out a purple piece.
"Come here, get on my back."
Damian obliged, and Jon took off, flying around the bell tower a bit, until they reached a side that wasn't easily seen.
"Light, please?"
Damian fished out his phone and turned on the flashlight. Jon started drawing on the stone of the cathedral, first a big heart, then on the inside 'DW + JK'. Damian snorted.
"You big sap," he muttered, resting his head against Jon's.
"I know. Now take a picture."
Damian obliged, then they flew back to their little spot in the bell tower, where they packed up, then went on a mission to find a secluded, yet brightly lit spot where they could draw on the sidewalks.
They ended up spending an hour or two there, just messing around, drawing different things, then they had to go find a public restroom so they could wash their hands, stumbling into the single stall bathroom, giggling and probably looking very suspicious with how they were acting and leaning on each other. They started fighting over who got to use the sink in this really shitty bathroom, and just getting chalky water all over each other.
"Do you want to go home and get a little rest before school?" Damian asked, glancing up as he was drying off his hands.
"Naw, I'll be okay. If you had other plans, that is."
"I do. Shall we go get coffee?"
They went and got some shitty gas station coffee and some more snacks, practically fused at the shoulder as they walked around together collecting their items from the gas station.
Then they sat on the curb outside, sipping their coffees and inhaling lovely gas station fumes.
"Okay, where are we going now?" Jon asked, as he jogged back from throwing away their trash.
"Well first we need to get some place people can't see us, because we're going to be flying."
They snuck away into an alley and then took off, Jon following Damian's directions.
They soon arrived at the beach, and Jon suddenly understood what Damian's plan had been.
They spent some time setting up a spot to watch the sunrise from. It was fairly chilly on the beach, the late spring air being cooled by the ocean, but it wasn't bad, they just rolled up their pants and went for a walk barefoot along the ocean, giggling and taking photos and walking with their hands clasped.
When they eventually made it back to their blanket, they used the beach towels as blankets, and Damian even went as far to sit in Jon's lap and tuck himself in close, because anyone with a Kryptonian boyfriend
best friend knows that they're personal space heaters.
They didn't really talk, just kind of sat there, Jon's arms wrapped around Damian, keeping him warm as they watched the sun peak up over the horizon, then start rising higher.
"Hey, Jon."
"Hmm?"
"I do want to date you, you know that right?"
"I know."
"And you know why I haven't asked yet?"
"Yeah, I know."
Damian nodded, satisfied, and rested his head back against Jon's collarbone. Jon chuckled, kissing the top of his head.
They only sat there for a bit longer before packing up and flying back to Jon's house. After all, they both had school that day. Jon dropped Damian off a little ways away from the house, then went and fetched his car, easily bringing it without scratching or denting it any.
When he touched down beside it, Damian reached out and grabbed his hand, tugging him in close.
"Thank you," he murmured, hugging Jon tightly.
"Yeah, of course. You know I'm always here for you," Jon murmured, burying his nose in Damian's soft hair.
They just stood there for a moment, then Damian pulled away, pushed up on his toes to give himself the extra inch he needed, and gently kissed Jon.
"I'll see you later. I'm sorry if I got you into trouble."
"It was trouble well worth it," Jon assured, stealing one more kiss before stepping back.
Damian smiled and fished out his keys before unlocking his car and opening the door.
"Goodbye, Jonathan."
"Bye Dami!"
Jon stood there and watched as Damian got in his car and started driving away, heading back to Gotham, and probably straight to his school, if he even went at all. Meanwhile, Jon turned around and flew back home, sneaking back in the window in his room.
He changed back into his pajamas and went downstairs, yawning as he headed to the coffee pot.
Seeing as it was 7:16am, both his parents were up.
"Hey, Jonno!" Clark called, grinning at him as he poured himself a cup of liquid life.
"Hi dad," Jon yawned back and sat down, feeling his heart pick up, as he waited for one of them to say something.
Neither spoke, just kept making breakfast.
"So, are you still planning to go to school today?" Lois asked as she set a plate of eggs in front of Jon.
"Yeah?" He asked, faking confusion.
"Well, I wasn't sure, since you were out with Damian all night."
Jon stiffened. Clark stopped cooking. Silence fell over the room.
"I-"
"Oh, you didn't think I knew?" Lois asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I figured it'd be Dad-"
"Well, unlike the old man, I did hear him sneaking in."
"Mom, I-"
Lois held up her hand, silencing him. "We'll be discussing this further later, I promise you that, you know you're not allowed to sneak out like that. But I assume there's a good reason."
Jon glanced at Clark, who looked stunned, but was staying silent.
"He needed me," was all Jon could say.
Lois nodded and turned away, going to get her breakfast.
"What do you think, Clark? Extra chores?"
"I uh- I thought we were going to discuss this later?"
"Oh we are, but the barn and fence need repainted."
Clark sighed and shrugged. "Sure, Lo."
Lois nodded. "Then that's decided. We'll discuss this at dinner, but for now, you should go shower so you don't smell like ocean."
Jon nodded and hurried to eat before rushing off, laughing a bit to himself that he got off that easy.
Later that day, Bruce Wayne was sitting in his office, totally not taking a power nap, when he was woken by his phone ringing. He grabbed it quickly, and grinned a bit when he saw the contact.
"Clark."
"Hey, Bruce."
"How are you?"
"I'm good. You?"
"Oh, I'm doing decent."
"Great. Hey I had a question for you."
"Go ahead?"
Clark hesitated. "Did you know your son snuck over here and convinced my son to sneak out and spend the entire night running around Metropolis?"
Bruce stayed silent, wondering what on Earth Clark was talking about.
"No? Damian was home last night, Alfred said he was in his room . . . Doing school . . ."
"Yeah, well, he wasn't. . . "
Bruce scoffed and reached up to rub his face.
"Of course. We got into a fight, he must have left while I was still in the cave. I didn't see him this morning either, but Alfred ran an early errand today, he must have been taking Damian his school things."
Clark didn't respond and awkward silence hung over them.
"What did you do when you found out?"
"Well, considering I found out when Lois grounded Jon this morning? Nothing."
"Wait, did you not know either?"
Clark's silence was telling, and Bruce just started laughing. He laughed so hard that Clark hung up on him, but it was so worth it.
Just like it was worth it for Jon, being grounded. It was worth it, since he got to go and spend a whole evening just running around with Damian, being teens, seeing him smile .
It was worth it.
And one day, it would be worth the waiting, when they were a little older, and he would get to call Damian his boyfriend.
So that's why he would patiently wait.
Always.
He would always wait on Damian.